Artificial guiding feather for arrows

ABSTRACT

Artificial feathers for arrows each of which is of a one-piece construction and of a soft flexible material such as plastic. Rather than being molded into a solid piece, each feature has individual barbs that are shaped so that they normally nest with one another. However, the barbs allow each feather to collapse as it passes the bow and then spring back into normal shape to guide the arrow in flight.

United States Patent 1 Austin et ai.

[451 July 31, 1973 ARTIFICIAL GUIDING FEATHER FOR ARROWS [76] inventors: Charles W. Austin, 4318 E. 38th St.;

Francis W. Melton, 3836 Beaver Ave., both of Des Moines, Iowa [22] Filed: May 26, .1969

[21] Appl. No.: 827,689

[52] [1.8. CI 273/1065 C [5 1] Int. Cl. F41b 5/02 [58] Field 01 Search 273/1065, 106.5 C

[56] Relerences Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,830,818 4/1958 Otto 273/1065 C OTHER PUBLICATIONS The Flight of Birds, John H. Storer, 1948, p. 16.

Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-J-laven E. Simmonsand James C. Nemmers [57] ABSTRACT Artificial feathers for arrows each of which is of a onepiece construction and of a soft flexible material such as plastic. Rather than being molded into a solid piece, each feature has individual barbs that are shaped so that they normally nest with one another. However, the barbs allow each feather to collapse as it passes the bow and then spring back into normal shape to guide the arrow in flight.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENmm 3 1 ms nmm QNN L nn-"1r was CHARLES w. AUSTIN FRANCIS W. MELTON BY;

ATTORNEY ARTIFICIAL GUIDING FEATHER FOR ARROWS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional feathers commonly used on arrows are selected from a certain group of turkey feathers which have the desired properties and meet the necessary standards. These natural feathers are unsatisfactory in some respects. For example, they are affected by moisture and their useful life is somewhat less than the other arrow components. As the natural feathers become wet or worn, the accuracy of the arrow is adversely affected.

Attempts have been made in the past to produce artificial substitutes for natural feathers that would be suitable for use on arrows. Some plastic guides have been made with solid or scored vanes. Arrows using these solid vanes have reasonably good accuracy, but every archer cannot adapt himself to their use because they must be shot from a special device on the bow called a pin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Our invention provides artificial vanes made of suitable material which has the flexibility and resilience required to allow the vanes to collapse as they pass the bow and then to spring back into their original shape to accurately guide the arrow on its course. Guide vanes made according to our invention have a plurality of small spikes with an air space between adjacent spikes. The spikes overlap in their normal condition to present a solid vane, but they will slip by each other easily to allow the vane to collapse as the arrow passes by and engages the bow. When in their normal, uncollapsed condition, each vane will present a relatively smooth surface that will minimize the drag on the arrow while it is in flight. The resiliency of the construction also provides a maximum resistance to lateral displacement or twisting of the individual spikes thus greatly minimizing deformation of the vanes and prolonging their useful life. Our invention will provide artificial guide vanes or feathers with all of these advantages while still providing a construction that is less expensive to manufacture than the cost of procuring natural feathers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an enlarged longitudinal side elevation view of a single artificial guiding feather or vane;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIG. I perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barbs of the feather thus showing the cross-section of the barbs when disposed in parallel relationship to each other;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views similar to FIG. 2 and showing other possible shapes of barbs; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are end and side elevation views respectively of a partially assembled arrow using the artificial guide feathers of our invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 7 an arrow of usual design is shown and gen-' erally referred to by the reference numeral 10. The arrow 10 has a thin cylindrical shaft 12 with three guiding vanes or feathers 14 secured in uniform spaced relationship around the shaft 12 at its trailing end.

Each feather 14 includes a longitudinal base 16 having an outer concave surface 18 for mating engagement with the cylindrical surface of the arrow shaft 12, as best seen in FIG. 6. A row of spikes or barbs, 20 extend outwardly from the base 16 in generally the same plane, that is, normal to base 16 so as to extend radially from shaft 12 when the feather 14 is affixed thereto. The barbs 20 are parallel to each other and extend diagonally relative to base 16. As best seen in FIG. 2, each barb 20 has a front or outer surface 22 and a rear or inner surface 24. The front and rear surfaces 22 and 24 are defined by a pair of vanes 26 and 28 extending outwardly from opposite sides of the plane that passes through the longitudinal axes of the barbs 20. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the vanes 26 are staggered relative to the vanes 28 along the length of the base 16. Vanes 26 and 28 each have the same cross-sectional area and present rear surfaces 30 and 32 which meet to form an acute angle therebetween while their front surfaces 34 and 36 form an obtuse angle therebetween. Also, it is seen in the embodiment of FIG. 2 that by staggering the vanes 26 and 28 a notch 38 is formed at the intersection of the vanes on the rear surface 22 while a shoulder 40 is formed on the front surface 24. It is apparent that the shoulder 40 of a barb 20 is adapted to nest in the notch 38 of the adjacent barb 20 when the barbs 20 are moved together along the plane of the feather 14. Moreover, it is seen that each of the barbs 20 is limited in-transverse or lateral movement out of the plane of the feather 14 since the vane 28 will engage the adjacent vane 28 and/or the vane 26 on the adjacent barb 20 when the barb is moved laterally upwardly as viewed in FIG. 2. Conversely, as viewed in FIG. 2, the shoulders 40 will engage the front surface 32 of the adjacent vane 28 when a barb 20 is moved downwardly. Thus, it is seen that the barbs 20 are limited against lateral movement.

Also, when the barbs 20 are in a normal position they overlap one another, and when viewed from the side (as seen in FIG. 1) there are no openings between the barbs. This overlap of the barbs 20 provides substantially the same aerodynamic effect on the arrow in flight as a solid guide vane and the accuracy of the archer is improved. Maximum accuracy is thus attained while permitting the barbs 20 to be stacked in nesting relationship one upon the other. Accordingly, the barbs 20 may be easily compressed toward the base 16 and the shaft 12 as they bear against the bow when the arrow is shot.

In FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 there are illustrated other crosssectional shapes of the barbs of artificial feathers constructed according to the principles of our invention. In each of the embodiments illustrated in these three figures, the same reference numerals as those used for the embodiment of FIG. 2 are used to refer to parts similar to the first embodiment, except that the reference numerals are followed by the letters a, b, or c, respectively, for the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. As in the first embodiment, the barbs of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 nest within one another and, therefore, the lateral movement of each barb is limited. Also, when in a normal position, the barbs overlap one another so that when viewed from the side there are no openings between them.

Although thcre are other suitable materials presently available, and undoubtedly others will be developed, it has been found that the best material for making the feathers 14 is polyethylene or some co-polymers because these materials have the right amount of flexibility, durability, toughness and most importantly, are not affected by temperature changes within a range where arrows are commonly used, even in extreme cold. An arrow having feathers of polyethylene constructed according to the principles of our invention will give better accuracy in shooting than an arrow with natural feathers. The barbs on the artificial feathers of our invention will bend into nesting engagement with each other as they move against the bow and after they are past the bow they will spring back to their normal position to guide the arrow accurately to its target. Hot or cold temperatures will not affect the resiliency of the barbs in the feathers. Accordingly, the artificial feathers of our invention will function in the same manner at 32 degrees below zero as they will on a hot summer day, even though the material itself changes slightly in resiliency.

Having thus described our invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various revisions and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is our intention, however, that all such revisions and modifications as are obvious to those skilled in the art will be included within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. An artificial guiding feather for use on arrows and the like, said feather comprising an elongated base having a forward end and a rear end and an outer surface shaped to fit an arrow, and a row of independent barbs along said base between the ends thereof, each of said barbs being joined at one end to said base and extending outwardly and rearwardly therefrom, said barbs and base being of one-piece construction of a flexible and resilient plastic material with the barbs being of substantially the same width and all located in substantially the same plane; each of said barbs in transverse crosssection having a forwardly extending end and a pair of rearwardly extending vanes; said barbs having parallel front and rear surfaces; each of said vanes having the same cross-sectional area, the front and rear surfaces of each pair of vanes being spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of said barbs thereby forming a notch in the barb of said pair of vanes at the intersection of said pair of vanes, said front surfaces forming an acute angle therebetween.

2. The feather of claim 1 in which the said barbs are longitudinally positioned with the forward end of one extending into the space between the vanes of the forwardly adjacent barb so that lateral movement of one of said barbs will be resisted by engagement with the adjacent barbs.

3. The feather of claim 1 in which the rear surfaces of said pair of vanes form an-obtuse angle therebetween and the front surfaces of said vanes form a shoulder at their intersection, and the shoulder on one barb is adapted to be received in the notch of the barb adjacent thereto.

4. The feather of claim 3 in which the said barbs are longitudinally positioned with the forward end of one extending into the space between the vanes of the forwardly adjacent barb so that lateral movement of one of said barbs will be resisted by engagement with the adjacent barbs. 

1. An artificial guiding feather for use on arrows and the like, said feather comprising an elongated base having a forward end and a rear end and an outer surface shaped to fit an arrow, and a row of independent barbs along said base between the ends thereof, each of said barbs being joined at one end to said base and extending outwardly and rearwardly therefrom, said barbs and base being of one-piece construction of a flexible and resilient plastic material with the barbs being of substantially the same width and all located in substantially the same plane; each of said barbs in transverse cross-section having a forwardly extending end and a pair of rearwardly extending vanes; said barbs having parallel front and rear surfaces; each of said vanes having the same cross-sectional area, the front and rear surfaces of each pair of vanes being spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of said barbs thereby forming a notch in the barb of said pair of vanes at the intersection of said pair of vanes, said front surfaces forming an acute angle therebetween.
 2. The feather of claim 1 in which the said barbs are longitudinally positioned with the forward end of one extending into the space between the vanes of the forwardly adjacent barb so that lateral movement of one of said barbs will be resisted by engagement with the adjacent barbs.
 3. The feather of claim 1 in which the rear surfaces of said pair of vanes form an obtuse angle therebetween and the front surfaces of said vanes form a shoulder at their intersection, and the shoulder on one barb is adapted to be received in the notch of the barb adjacent thereto.
 4. The feather of claim 3 in which the said barbs are longitudinally positioned with the forward end of one extending into the space between the vanes of the forwardly adjacent barb so that lateral movement of one of said barbs will be resisted by engagement with the adjacent barbs. 